Moving to America: what to take with you

The only real stress (for me) during the move was packing my bags. “Everything that has been acquired through back-breaking labor” must be sorted and the bare minimum must be taken with you. In our case, we could take 6 suitcases with us (the company paid for +4 suitcases), and 2 hand luggage. You can, of course, bother with sending goods, but we decided to simply pick up some of our things gradually, as we visited the country from which we left.

Фото: Depositphotos

I will share some thoughts about what is worth carrying, and what is not, and on what basis to sort.

Absolutely all things need to be broken into these categories:

1. Throw out - this is, of course, better to do with everything that cannot be donated or donated somewhere, i.e. completely rubbish.
2. Donate or donate. In fact, old clothes are always needed by charities, and really bad ones are always needed by animal shelters.
3. Sell something that you can’t take away and don’t want to sacrifice, if you have the time and desire for it, it’s not a bad idea, it will add a little extra money to your moving budget.
4. Take immediately — we remember that our export capabilities are limited; this category is the smallest of all.
5. Leave until better times. If you have someone to store something that you want to take out, but doesn’t burn. It's a great idea to leave it for later.

Let's talk more about the category 4. Take immediately:

1. Clothes and shoes.I advise you not to bring a lot of clothes. Take something original, valuable to you. It makes no sense to carry heaps of T-shirts and jeans. All this can be bought here, much cheaper and of better quality. Shoes are a separate issue: they take up a lot of space and weigh more. It is ideal to take only what suits the season, or something very valuable to you. It's easier to take away clothes using vacuum bags.

Conveniently saves space in the suitcase.

2. Appliances. FORGET! There is no point in bringing it (even a hair dryer) - all this will not work in America, there are not just different sockets, there is a different voltage. Feel free to send all equipment to categories 2 and 3.
3. Gadgets, all that will work here with an adapter, you can take. But again, remember that the equipment here is modern and at an affordable price.
4. Russian books - this case should be classified either in category 4 or 5. There is a problem with this. We brought a certain number of children's books and plan to bring more.
5. Food. Do not think about it, everything is there. In addition, if you carry food, it must be declared.
6. Medicines. In many blogs I saw horror stories from the category: “Bring a suitcase of medicines with you! guard! Everything here is based on recipes.” I would say this: if there is something special that you take regularly, then take it with you for the first time. Then go to the doctor (because if you drink something regularly, without a doctor in any way), they will give you a prescription for it. Everything else is in bulk, everything is sold everywhere and without recipes. Conclusion: you are not going to an uninhabited island.
7. Bed linen / towels. Well, it’s clear that you won’t take pillows and blankets with you. But it’s not worth bringing separate sets of linen with the expectation of buying pillows and blankets for them here - the formats are completely different here. It makes sense to take a towel only if you have 1 set, the rest will be bought.
8. Kitchenware. It makes no sense to carry, if only one device per person well, just for the first few days. Because it is all heavy and without any problems is acquired here.
9. Something important to you. Let's call it that. These are photos, souvenirs, various little things - if they are valuable to you, take them, they help create an atmosphere at home and relieve stress when parting with them. Well, or if there is absolutely no room, then remember about category 5.
10. Kids toys. Definitely NO! Here they are full, they are very interesting and cool. You can take only a couple of the most beloved.
11. Money. Needed :) You will need to fill the apartment you are renting from scratch - you need to buy a LOT, A LOT of things. You don’t even think about it right away, but the more you buy, the more you realize how much is needed in everyday life, what we are used to and don’t immediately remember about it. More than 10 thousand dollars must be declared, but this is simply a statement of fact: I am carrying this much.
12. Documentation. Of course, anything that may be needed, carry and keep scans somewhere on the disks, can be useful.
13. Good mood! - remember, all difficulties can be overcome!

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